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I had no idea that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley was seriously ill when I slammed into him last week for failing to take full charge of his responsibilities to the country. Upon reading that Dr Rowley’s ailment required him to have a series of medical tests conducted in the USA, I felt I owed him a sincere apology, which I tender here.

You see, in the years I’ve known him, I considered Keith an exemplar of fitness that those who hold public office should emulate. Because of my training, lifestyle and experience, I’ve often advised holders of high office with whom I’ve interacted that whatever the demands on their time they should set aside at least one hour a day for some form of exercise.Continue reading ‘Living with Parkinson’s’

The recent policy decision by the People’s National Movement Government to revamp the Government Assistance for Tertiary Expenses (GATE) programme is indeed a most welcomed and long overdue move.

The fact of the matter is that adult citizens of this country both under and over 50 years of age have been abusing and dismembering this State funded programme for years.Continue reading ‘Stop the GATE madness’

The Political Leader and members of the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) along with Mrs. Liseli Daaga and family, sadly announce the passing of Chief Servant Makandal Daaga (formerly Geddes Granger), founder of NJAC and former Cultural Ambassador to CARICOM. Chief Servant Makandal Daaga passed away at the Port of Spain General Hospital at 1.35pm today (Monday 8th August 2016). Bro. Daaga would have turned 81 years on Saturday.Continue reading ‘Passing of Chief Servant Makandal Daaga’

This week I want to talk about my friend Karl “Chip” Case and his greatness in the same way Rudyard Kipling talked about its manifestations in the following lines: “If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,/ ‘Or walk with Kings-nor lose the common touch.” For the past thirty years I have walked with a king but did not know it. But then again, if I knew it, I may not have treated him as just another person.Continue reading ‘My Friend, The Late Karl Case’

I don’t know what plans he has for his vacation, but I strongly recommend to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley that he spend all of it in solitary self-confinement seeking guidance from whatever deity or deities he believes in regarding his leadership capabilities.

I don’t care whether it’s an ashram, a monastery or Papa Neezer’s shrine, I honestly believe that Keithos can benefit from a mega-dose of divine intervention to help him determine whether he has what it takes to lead this cussed country out of the morass it has been mired in for decades.Continue reading ‘Lead, or shut up’

THE EDITOR: So, the reactionaries have only recently ‘discovered’ that scores of youths are leaving Trinidad to fight with ISIL. Predictably, they react by talking about blocking their re-entry, jailing them, etc. In other words, pretty much the same punitive measures they insist on applying to gang violence and school bullying.Continue reading ‘Re Youths and ISIL’

“The stories of our past should not condemn us to the turmoil of acrimony; but rather they should show us a path for achieving the positive and prosperous development of our country now and for the generations to come. . . . We are currently writing new pages in our history. . . . We need to ask ourselves, are we facilitating new prejudices and divisions in our society? Are we perpetuating a mindset of entitlement – claiming rights where instead we should accept personal responsibility? . . . Are we committed to working together in the best interest of our country? Can we look past the ‘me’ and ‘my group’ to the bigger picture of nationhood?”Continue reading ‘Self-Identity: The Key to Mental Emancipation’

Tomorrow (August 1st) is Emancipation Day. It’s a day on which the formerly enslaved commemorate their freedom; a practice they have undertaken since 1848 although there have been interruptions over the years. Generally, two different strata (those whose bread had been better buttered and those whose bread have been larded) have celebrated their emancipation in different ways.Continue reading ‘May Their Bread Be Buttered Over’

Trinidad & Tobago, as a very inefficient producer of sugar, relying heavily on preferential, prices for the commodity from Britain, and later the European Union, should have scaled back sugar production from the 1970s when the industry’s losses mounted year after year, soon to reach uncontrollable levels.Continue reading ‘Sugar industry was doomed to fail’